First Holy Unction service took place at the monastery today.

A congregation of clergy jointly (or “soborno” in Russian) performs the sacrament. A total of eight of Diveyevo’s priests took part in the sacrament today. In the essence, it is the sacrament of “anointing with oil” where olive oil is customarily used for anointing. In earlier centuries, it had such names as “oil”, “holy oil”, “anointing”, and “prayerful anointing”.

The sacrament’s history may be traced back to the apostolic times as Jesus Christ gave them power to heal the sick: “they … anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” (Mark 6:13) It is aimed to achieve spiritual physical healing while absolving long-forgotten sins.

The Holy Unction’s prayers repeatedly appeal to God to forgive sins committed by the afflicted and ask for healing. The sacramental prayers of the Holy Unction ask for spiritual recovery since physical healing depends on repentance and forgiveness of sins combined with the commitment to improve one’s life in accordance with God’s law.

During the Holy Unction service, clergy perform seven readings from both the Epistles and Gospels. After each reading, a priest anoints the forehead, cheeks, chest and arms of the faithful with holy oil. After the last Gospel reading, clergy pray for forgiveness of sins and place an opened Gospel over the heads of those being anointed.

The Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery will hold the Sacrament of the Holy Unction weekly up to the Holy Passion Week.